With that, scratch another name off Tennessee's list of possible candidates to fill its offensive coordinator vacancy. Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt met with Freeze last week, according to multiple reports. Freeze also was linked to OC openings at Auburn and Florida State.

FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2015, file photo, Mississippi quarterback Chad Kelly, left, talks with head coach Hugh Freeze during NCAA college football practice in Oxford, Miss. Freeze made a surprise choice to protect the teamþÄôs most valuable asset. Junior Rod Taylor will be the starter at left tackle when No. 11 Ole Miss plays No. 4 Florida State on Monday, Sept. 5, 2016, in Orlando, Florida. That means the 6-foot-3, 329-pounder _ who has never made a start at either tackle spot _ will be charged with protecting quarterback Chad KellyþÄôs blindside against the SeminolesþÄô talented defense. (Bruce Newman/The Oxford Eagle via AP, File) Bruce Newman

FILE - This Dec. 16, 2016, file photo, then-Mississippi NCAA college head football coach Hugh freeze speaking during a news conference at the Manning Center in Oxford, Miss. Mississippi's football program will begin its appearance in front of the NCAA's infractions committee panel, nearly five years after the governing body first launched its investigation. The hearing starts Monday in Covington, Kentucky, which is a suburb of Cincinnati. The Rebels are facing 21 allegations, including 15 that are classified as Level I, which the NCAA deems the most serious. (Bruce Newman/Oxford Eagle via AP, File) The Associated Press

Former Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze (far right) shares a laugh with Greenfield High football coach Don Pitt, his wife, Emily, and Bethel Sports Information Director Dave McCulley. Pitt coached offensive line for Freeze at Lambuth, and McCulley was the SID at Lambuth when Freeze was there. BRANDON SHIELDS/The Jackson Sun

FILE-This April 5, 2014, file photo shows Mississippi quarterback DeVante Kincade, right, and coach Hugh Freeze confer during the NCAA college football team's spring scrimmage, in Oxford, Miss. Kincade, the SWAC’s preseason offensive player of the year is quick to say that he enjoyed his time at Ole Miss and has nothing but respect for former coach Freeze. Still, when it became apparent he wasn’t going to start for the Rebels, he transferred to Grambling, and hasn’t regretted the decision once. The pipeline from HBCUs to the NFL is not as well-traveled as it was prior to integration, but the road exists. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File) The Associated Press

Hugh Freeze addresses the media at SEC Media Days last week in Hoover. Freeze has since resigned as head coach at Ole Miss after being linked to a call to a female escort service from a university-issued phone. Duane Rankin/Montgomery Advertiser

Hugh Freeze is congratulated by fans as he walks off the field after their 23-17 win over No. 3 Alabama in Oxford, Miss. Freeze's three-year tenure at Mississippi has proven at least one thing _ recruiting matters. The Rebels have rocketed from an SEC afterthought to the No. 3 team in the country by bringing in better talent, (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File) Rogelio V. Solis, AP

Hugh Freeze leads his team to the field prior to their NCAA college football game against LSU in Oxford, Miss. Mississippi has aspirations of competing for SEC titles. No. 11 Ole Miss (4-0, 1-0) plays No. 3 Alabama (4-0, 1-0) on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014, in its biggest home game in more than a decade. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File) Rogelio V. Solis, AP

Hugh Freeze and his team runs onto the field prior to their game against Tennessee at an NCAA college football game in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) Rogelio V. Solis, AP

Hugh Freeze is in attendance at the game between the Mississippi Rebels and the South Carolina Gamecocks at The Pavilion at Ole Miss. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports Spruce Derden, Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze walks through along the field before the game against the Memphis Tigers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.Mississippi won 48-28. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Before he was the coach at Ole Miss, Hugh Freeze was a candidate for the Memphis women?s basketball coaching position in 2004.
Aug 28, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze gets a victory dunk by his players following their win over the Boise State Broncos in the 2014 Chick-fil-a Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome. The Rebels defeated the Broncos 35-13. Mandatory Credit: Paul Abell-USA TODAY Sports Paul Abell-USA TODAY Sports

Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze speaks with a player during football practice prior to media day activities on Monday in Oxford.
Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze speaks with a player during football practice prior to media day activities, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, in Oxford, Miss. Rogelio V. Solis, AP

Dan Mullen (left) and Hugh Freeze (right) will meet in the Egg Bowl at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 23.
Dan Mullen (left) and Hugh Freeze (right) will face off in the Egg Bowl at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 23. Bill Barksdale/For The Clarion-Ledger

Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze (pictured) and Boise State coach Bryan Harsin share similar roots in their careers. Their teams face off Thursday in the Georgia Dome.
Hugh Freeze Bill Barksdale/ Special to The Clarion-Leder

Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze is being watched closely as the Rebels try to move onward while still under investigation by the NCAA.
Jan 1, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Mississippi Rebels wide receiver Laquon Treadwell (1) and head coach Hugh Freeze prepares to take the field to play the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the 2016 Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze's game with No. 4 Auburn will begin to shake out which SEC team makes the football playoff.
Mississippi coach Hugh Freeze reacts after a penalty during the first half of an NCAA college football game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014. (AP Photo/The Daily Mississippian, Thomas Graning) Thomas Graning, AP

Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason, second from left, meets Mississippi head coach Hugh Freeze on the field after an NCAA college football game Nov. 19, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt won 38-17. Mark Humphrey / AP Photo

“I was on this whirlwind tour to other colleges looking at becoming an offensive coordinator at different places. I had three straight days of travel, travel, travel," Freeze said Friday during a news conference at Liberty.

He wound up as a head coach at a program preparing for its second season in the FBS.

Liberty, located in Lynchburg, Va., announced the hire of Freeze on Friday.

"In hiring Coach Freeze," Liberty athletic director Ian McCaw said, "we’re bringing in someone who has experienced success everywhere he’s been. … That success certainly has been on the football field, but what really has impressed us the most with him is, he’s a man of great faith. He’s a great family man, and he’s somebody that really pours into his student-athletes.”

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FILE - This Nov. 19, 2016 file photo shows Baylor offensive coordinator Kendal Briles reacting to a play against Kansas State in the first half of a NCAA college football game in Waco, Texas. Florida Atlantic is offering a second chance to Briles. The Owls' roster and coaching staff feature plenty of names of people who have encountered issues along the way to Boca Raton. Briles was the coordinator at Baylor under his father while the school was rocked by a sexual assault scandal. (Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune Herald via AP, file) The Associated Press

Baylor Bears offensive coordinator Kendal Briles during the Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Shootout college football game between the Baylor Bears and the Texas Tech Red Raiders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Matthew Visinsky, AP

Baylor offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, left, helps quarterback Seth Russell with his shoulder pads before the team's NCAA college football game against Northwestern State on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, in Waco, Texas. Briles wrote the letters "CAB" on his hand before the game. (Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald via AP) The Associated Press

FILE - In this March 20, 2015, file photo, Baylor head coach Art Briles, left, and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, right, watch a play during an NCAA college football intrasquad scrimmage in Waco, Texas. Briles is handing control to his prized possession, Baylor's bonkers offense, to his only son, Kendal. Similar moves have caused headaches for some of the most accomplished coaches in college football history, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the elder Briles. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File) The Associated Press

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This is Freeze’s first college job since he resigned in shame prior to the 2017 season after a pattern of inappropriate conduct was revealed.

Had Freeze not resigned, Ole Miss would have fired him “for moral turpitude,” Rebels athletic director Ross Bjork said at the time, after the university found “a pattern” of conduct on Freeze’s university-issued cell phone that “was troubling.”

Later that year, Ole Miss got hit with NCAA sanctions for violations tied to a years-long recruiting scandal, the majority of which occurred under Freeze's watch.

The university had stood by Freeze throughout the NCAA investigation, but the revelations of illicit phone calls did him in.

“I’ve made decisions that hurt a lot of people," Freeze said Friday. "I don’t ever want to experience that again.”

On the field, Freeze made the Rebels a force in the SEC. Ole Miss was ranked as high as No. 3 in the AP poll in 2014 and again in the following season. The Rebels made New Year’s Six bowls in each of those seasons, culminating the 2015 season with a Sugar Bowl victory that gave them a 10-3 record. It marked the program’s first 10-win season since 2003. Notably, Freeze’s Rebels beat Nick Saban’s Alabama squads in 2014 and in ’15.

Ole Miss made bowl games in four of five seasons under Freeze. He compiled a 39-25 record at Ole Miss after going 10-2 in a single season at Arkansas State.

Liberty's job opened Monday after Turner Gill announced his retirement.

Liberty went 6-6 last season competing as an independent in FBS.

“I can’t wait to get started," Freeze said. "It’s been a long time coming for me. I’m more determined than ever. I’m more dedicated than ever.”